Friday, July 18th, 2008

Can You Outhink Disney’s Muppets?

Beaker: Ode To Joy

Disney’s Muppets are releasing viral videos online with individual Muppet characters having their own Youtube accounts. I make a point of calling them Disney’s Muppets because they haven’t been the same since Jim Henson’s death and their sale to Disney.

I wish Henson was around to do ‘em right. Disney is producing mostly mini musical acts that I’m sure play well on TV and for other commercial reusage.

Wouldn’t it be neater / better / more fun if the Muppet characters were creating informal homespun videos in the same style as what everyday people do on Youtube?

Kermit’s vacation video of his return to his childhood bog.

Miss Piggy’s disgust as she returns to her childhood sty wearing a white dress and high heels.

Gonzo’s reel-to-reel footage from his first time being shot from his backyard cannon. When he speaks today we see the many broken windows in his neighborhood.

Animal’s series of videos as he learns how to use a camera, first
close-ups of his face, then using the camera as a drum, and finally a
full five minutes of his yabbering nonsensically to us like a Youtube pro â€” as if we are riveted by his presence.

Dr. Bunson Honeydew recalling fond memories from his high school chemistry class.

Beaker recalling not-so-fond memories from that same class as Bunson’s lab partner.

Scooter carrying a handycam around his house party. Rowlf playing an inappropriate song on the piano. Gonzo’s chickens eating unpopped popcorn. Miss Piggy embarrassed being caught pilfering the kitchen trash for slop-like food scraps. Statler and Waldorf asleep on the couch.

Hey, they are decently funny. Enjoy, and then post your ideas for better videos. We can play them out in our heads.
Here is a list of Muppet characters. Statler and Waldorf aside, what would YOU want to see the rest of the Muppets doing in their own personally shot videos?

I’d like to see Sam the Eagle, Rizzo the Rat, Janice, the Swedish Chef, and Beeker in a Real World like reality show. Then Rizzo would invite is hundreds of brothers and sisters over for a party and chaos would ensue.

I’d also like to see Miss Piggy on Project Runway, making fun of the skinny models.

The Muppets really haven’t done anything really cool in awhile, have they? Did they all retire?

Oh… one other thing… The Smithsonian is having a traveling exhibit on Jim Henson. It will be in DC until October and then it starts traveling. Here’s the link: http://www.sites.si.edu/henson/
Since I work for Smithsonian, I figured I should plug our own exhibit.

First off, the videos have sadly now been removed from Youtube, so I’m glad you embedded them here.
But, now having watched all of them, and being a huge fan of the muppet show, I’d say these are very representative of the show, which was after all a vaudvellian show (I don’t think that was a word).

Other ideas for Sam the American Eagle: he acts really well opposite other people as straight man, so a lot of duets would work, my all time favorite muppet skit is Sam talking to us “about nudity in the world today,” so a similar lecture could be hilarious.

There’s an audio somewhere of someone doing a Swedish Chef vs. Iron Chef parody. It’s really hilarious, and would be even better as a video. Swedish Chef vs. anyone would be fun to watch.